


Swimming Hole

by PeroxidePirate



Category: Tortall - Pierce
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-24
Updated: 2010-02-24
Packaged: 2017-10-07 12:46:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/65283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeroxidePirate/pseuds/PeroxidePirate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kel and Neal on summer vacation, their last year as pages.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

That July day, it was so hot that even the Royal Forest seemed to steam. Neal had persuaded Kel to take a break from training and leave the palace for an unspecified adventure, and so they were hiking through the forest. They were clad in summer training clothes, fortunately; even so Kel's shirt was sticking to her back with sweat.

"We're almost there!" Neal called over his shoulder.

"Almost where?" Kel asked, not really expecting an answer. He'd been cryptic from the start, but she liked him enough to follow anyway. Especially since that gave her an excuse to watch him.

"Here it is!" Neal disappeared between some trees, and Kel hurried to catch up. She came out into streaming sunlight. There was a narrow, sandy beach, with clear water lapping at it gently. It was a pool, perhaps a quarter the size of a tilting field; at the far edge, she could see a slow, wide river feeding in at one corner and out again at the next. That had to be the Olorun.

"Come on!" Neal peeled off his sweat soaked shirt and reached for the waist of his breeches.

Kel blinked, trying not to stare. "Stop that!" she ordered. "What are you doing?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Take your clothes off." Neal's shoes and stockings joined his shirt on the ground.

"I can't..." Kel began.

He eyed her training clothes. "You've got a loincloth and breastband on under there, haven't you? Or swim in your clothes, see if I care."

Kel schooled her face to smoothness, mentally calling herself seven kinds of idiot for not realizng sooner what he had in mind. She would have figured it out if he hadn't taken his shirt off. But once the sight of Neal's muscled, lightly haired chest was in her vision, she had temporarily lost the ability to reason. And now, in all unfairness, he was about to remove his breeches.

Kel turned around and began to remove her own clothes.


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm still not sure this is a good idea," Kel called. "This is exactly the kind of thing that could get me thrown out of training."

"Kel, you haven't been on probation for two years. Anyway, no one is going to find out."

"This is a public swimming hole, isn't it? Anyone can come here."

"Anyone with permission to be in the Royal Forest," Neal corrected. "Which means any noble. And how many nobles are in Corus or the palace at this time of year?"

She finished folding her clothes and turned to face him. "You never know."

His gaze flickered over her body and then, determinedly, back to her face. She looked at the ground.


	4. Chapter 4

"Look," Neal said, "pages swim here all the time, and have for generations. When training used to go through the summer, boys came every day. They still come, on hot days in spring and fall. Only you can't – I agree, you can't go swimming with fifteen boys. But I thought you should have the chance to come here at least once. And I thought it would be ok, if it was just the two of us. Kel?"

Kel dragged her gaze up, forcing herself not to stare at her nearly-naked best friend, forcing herself to look him in the eye. "Thank you," she said. She still wasn't sure it was a good idea. But as long at they were here... "Let's swim, then."


	5. Chapter 5

One end of the pool was deep enough to dive. The water closed over Kel's feet, and she kicked herself down to the bottom. She opened her eyes to sand, gravel, and seaweed. No fish: even the Olorun was sparse fishing, close to Corus, and of course there'd be nothing in the pool. Maybe there were frogs, somewhere.

Being underwater was better. It was that first bit, standing on the beach in their underwear, that had been awkward. She knew why she had wanted so badly to keep staring at Neal. She wondered why he had been trying so hard not to look at her.

Kel swam along the bottom, pondering, until she began to run out of air. Then she pushed off, kicking and stroking her way up. She broke the surface, tossing her hair back from her face.

Neal paddled, not five feet away.


	6. Chapter 6

"I told you it was fun!" Neal grinned, splashing a jet of water in Kel's direction.

"How's this?" She splashed back, then twisted in the water and dove under once more.

He followed, chasing as she swam. They came up for air at the same time, still just a few feet apart. "I almost got you!" He reached for her, and she laughed as she kicked her way out of reach again.

_So this is what it's like to be a normal page,_ Kel thought. She imagined all of her friends, laughing and splashing here. _Maybe it would have been better to be a boy._

Neal caught her, hand closing around her arm, and pulled her toward him. Face to face, they paddled, and Kel had the sudden urge to lean forward and lick the drop of water that was dripping down Neal's nose.

_Then again, maybe it is better to be a girl._


	7. Chapter 7

"Caught you," Neal said, and something in his voice made Kel's heart flutter.

"You win, then." She reached one hand out, resting it on his shoulder to steady herself.

Neal was too still, and she realized his feet were resting on the bottom. She slowed her kicking, just enough to keep herself afloat and the two of them eye to eye. Of all her friends, only Neal was still taller than Kel.

"What do I win?" he asked.

"I don't know." The easiness in her voice sounded false, even to her. "Did you have something in mind?"

"This." He drew Kel to him, and kissed her.


	8. Chapter 8

There was a perilous moment when Kel was afraid their combined weight would throw Neal off balance and send them both falling backward. Then the water held them up, and Neal kept his feet under him.

Kel smiled between kisses. The sun beat down, hot on her head and neck. The water was cool. It would have been too cold, now that they weren't moving – except that the whole front of her was tight against the warm, almost entirely bare shape of Neal's body. When another drop of water threatened to drip off his nose, she did lick it. He smiled back, then lifted his head so her tongue landed on his lips, instead. And then they were kissing again.


	9. Chapter 9

"So," Kel said, teasing, "this is what I miss by not coming swimming?"

"Not exactly," Neal laughed. "Can you picture..." He trailed off, as the expression on her face changed.

Thinking of her other friends reminded Kel, forcibly, that she was a page. She remembered that even being here, with her best friend, was a secret she would have to keep. With reluctant determination, she pushed herself away and paddled toward the shore until she could stand on her own.

"Kel, what? Why are we stopping?"

"We can't do this," she said sadly. "Neal, this can't... we can't... we're friends..."


	10. Chapter 10

They got dressed in silence, not looking at each other, and spoke little as they made their way back to the palace. The heat had not lessened as the day went on, and the forest was oppressively humid. Even the birds and animals that lived there were silent.

"Neal?" Kel caught his attention just before they reached the edge of the forest.

"Kel, I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she said quickly. "Thank you for bringing me there."

He looked at her, confused. "You're not mad?"

"Of course not. I had a great afternoon. I had my first kiss – first several kisses – with someone I really like. I'm glad it happened." She looked at him steadily, willing him to understand. "But I don't want to do it again. I mean, I do. But I don't – can't – because I can't have romance distracting me."

He studied her for a moment. "Of course, Kel," he finally said, with a lopsided smile. "I understand."

They were best friends, so she believed him.


End file.
